Christa Ludwig, a mezzo-soprano who reigned for decades over opera stages on both sides of the Atlantic, was 17 when World War II ended and gave some of her first performances at an American Officers’ Club in her native Germany. Homesick U.S. servicemen requested Gershwin and paid her in cigarettes.
Democracy Dies in Darkness
Christa Ludwig, reigning mezzo-soprano of the opera stage, dies at 93
By Emily Langer